A Pre-Game Questionnaire

[David Chapman]

Hello guys and gals,

I've lurked here for a few months and registered a few days ago. I've decided to design a system more or less from scratch, borrowing a few ideas from threads and systems I've looked at here at The Forge, rather than try to find and then purchase a system that fits my needs.




The Player Group

They've been playing D&D (3.0-3.5) and, from what I've gathered, they don't understand the underlying principles of interactive fiction and haven't enjoyed their sessions because they're just pulling things out of the books and stringing encounters together without any sense of tension and relief.

My first priority is to design a Player Inventory that will help me determine what type of role-players they are and also help them create alter egos (player characters) that they will truly enjoy portraying. The hidden purpose is to get them thinking about these concepts so that a gamist might start thinking more about character background and story while the narrativists and simulationists might pause and consider how their fellow players are getting enjoyment from the game.


Ostensibly I'd like to design a system that will maximize their needs as players but also minimize the role of fortune-based task resolution. I have a feeling that a fortune component will be necessary as they are used to rolling dice, so my system will include a mechanic to handle this, but it will be as streamlined and compact as I can make it.

For the purporses of this thread, I'd like to limit discussion to this Player Inventory.

Here's the questionnaire that I have so far. I'm looking for input as to more, definitive questions I can ask, and also help refining the questions I have devised. I'm open to better ways to phrase my questions and possible responses, additions, and subtractions that you think would help.



Player Inventory

There are no right or wrong answers here, the purpose of this questionnare is to help you understand what you enjoy about roleplaying and to help me get a better idea of how to tailor campaign so that everyone gets the most enjoyment from it.


1. Playing The Game (circle all that apply)

A. I like participating in the story and get enjoyment from piecing together clues to discover what's going on.

B. I like making tactical decisions during combat, rolling the dice, and using my skills and abilities on my character sheet to overcome the obstacles in the game.

C. I like getting "into character," imagining how I'd think and feel in situations. The game world becomes real for me during the session.



2. Making a character (circle the one that BEST applies)

A. I enjoy arranging my scores to get the maximum benefits according to race/class/profession. I don't mind spending extra time thinking about best combination of characteristics and skills. Then I may or may not write a background, depending on whether the GM requires it. I figure the GM will work my character into the story as he sees fit.

B. I think about the story and the areas that the GM has told us about and let that guide my character concept, which can be quite detailed. If the GM has given us a teaser as to how the story will begin, I'll work that into the goals and motivations for my character. I'll arrange my scores on the character sheet to best reflect his/her background and role in the story.

C. I start thinking about what strengths and weakness my character will have, what kind of personality he/she has, basing my concept on social class, how family members might influence his/her development, trying to imagine what life would be like in this setting and political climate. Then I'll arrange my scores according to this concept and let him/her find a natural role in the story as things develop.


3. Realism (circle all that you agree with)

A. It's important to carefully keep track of my equipment, such as how many arrows I have, how much damage my armor has taken, and how much stuff I could realistically fit into my saddlebags and travel pack.

B. For the sake of the story and maintaining the level of excitement, it shouldn't really matter that the chasm I'm trying to jump across is a few feet wider than my character could realistically clear. We're heroic characters, after all.

C. My Charisma score is 17, so no matter what I say or how I say it as a player, other characters in the game should be swayed by my opinion if I make the appropriate roll.


4. Content Rating. (circle a rating)

What kind of movie rating would you give the game you'd like to play? G, PG, PG-13, R, or NR (no rating, anything goes).

Circle those that you don't want in the game (if you chose PG, PG-13, R)

A. Graphic violence.
B. Graphic language/profanity
C. Nudity.
D. Sexual Situations/Themes


5. Creep Factor.

A. I don't like being scared or creeped out.
B. I don't mind being frightened by what's going on, but let's not get out of hand.
C. I enjoy being on the edge of my seat, biting my fingernails, terrified out of my gourd.


Let's Make a Character

Think about three books or movies that you enjoy more than most books you've read or movies you've seen. Pick the character from each that really sticks out in your mind, and select the one that you like the most out of all three. Answer the following questions about him/her. I've provided an example to show you what I'm getting at.


Movie/Book Example: Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope

1. Name: Han Solo

2. Profession: Smuggler

3. What does he/she do?

He fights against the empire, aiding the rebellion, notably Luke and Leia.

4. Why does he/she do it?

He realizes that being part of a group isn't such a bad thing and discovers that he cares about these people and what they are fighting for. Having and relying on friends isn't such a bad thing after all.

5. What qualities about him/her stand out?

His confidence and arrogance, and refusal to give up even in the face of unsurmountable odds. He uses his knowledge of smuggling to best effect, and does the right thing because it's the right thing to do. He has a caring soul, as is shown by his caretaker attitude towards his copilot, Chewbacca.

6. If you had to describe the character in what sentence, what would it be?

A loner who realizes the importance of being part of a group and helping for the common good.



Now, using this character as a starting point, develop your character by answering these same questions. Although you may not be used to this approach, indulge me at least this once. You can be as detailed or brief as you like. When you're finished, we'll begin assigning your ability scores to best reflect your character concept as you have realized it during the questioning process.




Let the discussion begin, and on a side note, my kudos to the founders, moderators, and members for maintaining this forum!

[Callan S.]

Hi David, welcome to the forge!

My first priority is to design a Player Inventory that will help me determine what type of role-players they are and also help them create alter egos (player characters) that they will truly enjoy portraying. The hidden purpose is to get them thinking about these concepts so that a gamist might start thinking more about character background and story while the narrativists and simulationists might pause and consider how their fellow players are getting enjoyment from the game.

I added the bold.

Do your questions make you think about other agendas? From what you've written, I think you've envisioned a group who are happy portraying their characters. They might do gamist stuff, or narrativist stuff, but the most important thing is that true enjoyment comes from portraying their character.

Do you think that in envisioning them finding true enjoyment (from portraying a character), you might be shooting for just one agenda yourself?

[David Chapman]

Hi Callan,

Thanks for the welcome, and the reply.

My agenda seems quite clear, but I'll add that the DM of this group has told me that they get too bogged down in the details of monster stats, range modifiers, etc. When I asked him how long a combat encounter usually takes, he laughed and said, "All night." Everyone has been unhappy with their sessions for a long time, but they don't know what to do. They've tried different systems, writing "house rules," switching around with different players trying to DM. I've seen this before in many many groups and the truth is they've never had anyone show them that there is in fact another way to approach the game session than a series of narratives that serve no purporse other than to link random encounters together. He also mentioned how frustrating it is when someone's worked on a character for a long time and he ends up getting killed due to an unlucky roll of the dice.

So as you can see, an indie-minded approach might be just the breath of fresh air they're looking for. Furthermore, they may have been craving a more karma or drama-based framework but don't know about it since they rely on (quote) "A library of books from a few systems, mostly D&D. I also have lots of PDF's I've downloaded and even after reading all of those the game doesn't get any better."

I hope this clarifies my agenda, my position, and why I desire to expose them to a new way of doing things. It may not be right, but I'll be damned if I won't give my best to try. I hate to see groups die this kind of slow death.

...

David Chapman

[Callan S.]

From what I've seen in accounts here many groups are already doing, to some small degree, what's fun for them. They need to keep doing what they are doing - ie, they need to do lots more of those little bits of fun that they are having, and shedding the stuff that was inbetween. Showing them a new way to play might be leading them away from what they actually have fun with. You've given some accounts of what your group didn't like, but do you have any accounts of what they have enjoyed in play, in the past? It can just be a small fragment and/or from a long time ago.

[Vulpinoid]

David,

I think you're on the right track with this type of questionairre.

Plenty of people around here seemed to get bogged down in the referential details and semantics of the situation.

It sometimes looks like an artist trying to discuss their next work in a forum for art critics. The critics have lost sight of the creative juices and only know how to analyse the remnants of the creative process. Meanwhile, the artist plans forward to their next project.

If you think a questionairre like this will help break the stereotypes that have lead to boring all night dice-fests, then go for it.

I think you've admitted the mature option by saying that this might not work, but you'll give your damnedest anyway. I've seen plenty of gaming groups die due to inability to innovate and push the envelope.

Showing them a new way to play might be leading them away from what they actually have fun with.

This may be true, but then again it may lead to even better experiences, and you won't know unless you try it.

V

[David Chapman]

--Callan

Eh, as I said in the OP, I'd like to constrain this thread to evaluating the questionnaire itself, not my motives behind it or the chemistry of the group. So if you have any comments pertaining to the questions, the format, or the phrasing, I'd welcome them. Thank you!

--Vulpinoid

Thanks for the support and your rather insightful comments on the dynamics of posters here. I will keep them foremost in mind when reading and replying. Do you have a name, and could you offer additions or subtractions based on what I have so far?

[David Berg]

David,

I'm going to respect the request in your last post and reply just to the questionnaire.  Here's the thing, though: without knowing more about the chemistry of the group and your motivations, it's hard for me to guess whether this questionnaire will accomplish what you want it to accomplish (and hard for me to make helpful suggestions toward that end).

I do think that throwing these questions at players is a good way to encourage thought and discussion.

There are no right or wrong answers here, the purpose of this questionnare is to help you understand what you enjoy about roleplaying and to help me get a better idea of how to tailor campaign so that everyone gets the most enjoyment from it.

Beware perceived condescension.  I'd say "the purpose of this questionnare is to help me understand what you enjoy about roleplaying".

1. Playing The Game (circle all that apply)

A. I like participating in the story and get enjoyment from piecing together clues to discover what's going on.

B. I like making tactical decisions during combat, rolling the dice, and using my skills and abilities on my character sheet to overcome the obstacles in the game.

C. I like getting "into character," imagining how I'd think and feel in situations. The game world becomes real for me during the session.

Many gamers I know would reply "sure" to all of these, and then an important thing for me to know would be, "Which is most important to you?"  You might want to replace "circle all that apply" with "rate in importance from 1 to 10".

2. Making a character (circle the one that BEST applies)

A. I enjoy arranging my scores to get the maximum benefits according to race/class/profession. I don't mind spending extra time thinking about best combination of characteristics and skills. Then I may or may not write a background, depending on whether the GM requires it. I figure the GM will work my character into the story as he sees fit.

B. I think about the story and the areas that the GM has told us about and let that guide my character concept, which can be quite detailed. If the GM has given us a teaser as to how the story will begin, I'll work that into the goals and motivations for my character. I'll arrange my scores on the character sheet to best reflect his/her background and role in the story.

C. I start thinking about what strengths and weakness my character will have, what kind of personality he/she has, basing my concept on social class, how family members might influence his/her development, trying to imagine what life would be like in this setting and political climate. Then I'll arrange my scores according to this concept and let him/her find a natural role in the story as things develop.

This seems to me to be the least helpful question, because it tangles in many issues.  I'd try to make the answer choices shorter and more pointed.  For example:

A. I enjoy arranging my scores to get the maximum benefits for succeeding in game challenges.

B. I prefer to have the GM tell me about a storyline he has planned and then create a character who fits most perfectly into that storyline.

C. I start thinking about my character by trying to imagine what life would be like in this setting and political climate.

and maybe you could cover another base by adding in:

D. I prefer to know what sort of moral issues and ethical situations are likely to arise in this game, so I can create a character with the inner strengths, weaknesses, and perspectives that will be most fun for me to play.

3. Realism (circle all that you agree with)

4. Content Rating. (circle a rating)

These seem useful to me as written.

5. Creep Factor.

I haven't had any experiences of genuine fear in a sitting-around-a-well-lit-table-with-dice roleplaying situation.  Your players may be skeptical of your ability to scare them, and you may not want to do what it will take to scare them.  However you decide to word the answer choices, just be sure they reflect possibilities that you are prepared to actually achieve.

Pretending to be scared is usually a poor substitute for being actually scared.

Think about three books or movies that you enjoy more than most books you've read or movies you've seen. Pick the character from each that really sticks out in your mind, and select the one that you like the most out of all three. Answer the following questions about him/her
. . .
Now, using this character as a starting point, develop your character by answering these same questions.

This sounds like a lot of fun to me.  If you guys are enough at ease around each other to be honest, I'd do as much of this out loud as possible.  That'd be way more fun for everyone than a multi-step writing assignment.

Ps,
-David

[David Chapman]

David Berg--

This is exactly the kind of feedback I was after. Everything you've said makes sense and has helped me tremendously. I've decided to go ahead and omit the "creep" section and I've used all the other suggestions as they are directly in line with what I was trying to achieve.

I owe you one.

[dindenver]

Hi!
  I thinks the questions:

1. Playing The Game (circle all that apply)

and

Making a character (circle the one that BEST applies)

Are loaded questions. They feature obvious stereotypes that players may be unable or unwilling to identify in themselves. Perhaps you need to break down each of the choices below these into individual questions. Such as, "What do you like most about action scenes in RPGs?"

Also, you should make a mix of close-ended (What do you like, a or b) and open-ended (Why do you like C?) questions

Specifically, you might want to address questions that are known to cause players frustration, my groups have had issues with the following over the years:
Expectation - One GM said we were playing an Epic campaign of Exalted, but he wouldn't let us start with lvl 3 Sorcery. this to me is not Epic.
Pacing - some players might have issue with having action scenes to often or note often enough.
RP opportunities - Some players may feel like they have a cool character that is not being used to its full potential, because character interaction is glossed over
Story rigidity - Some players have issue when their actions do not impact the story line or setting
Too open-ended - Some players may feel that there charcters are leaves on the wind with no real direction for the characters to go or act
Spotlight - Players will notice if other players are getting significantly more or less spotlight time then themselves
Center Stage - Players may become dissatisfied if they are playing minor chars in the GM's larger grander story.
Challenge - Some players like a stiff challenge, they want to feel like their char could be defeated if they make one false move. Other players want to focus on the story and let the challenge be guided by that. which may mean at time that there is in fact no challenge at all at times.

Finally, all good questionnaires have a positive and negative control question. Meaning its a question that you anticipate will be answered positively (Do you like RPGs?) or negatively (Do you dislike the people you roleplay with?). These examples are crude, but gets the idea across. The point of these is to confirm that the poll taker is actually paying attention to the questions asked and to see if they are part of the group/demographic or an anomalous reading. In other words, if one questionnaire does not answer your control questions correctly, you can discard them as the output of someone having a bad day or that just doesn't jive with your group.

  It is a novel idea, but I do wonder if your time wouldn't be better spent just talking it through. If these guys aren't analyzing their play, then just asking them face to face when they are having fun or when they are bored might be more interesting or useful info. Like with each playr bring up one or two scenes where you perceived they were happy or bored and ask them if that perception is correct...
  I know there is that stereotype of brain-damaged play, and this might be happening here. But it could just as easily be a case of someone reading more into a situation than there is there.
  Either way, I hope your groups gets sorted out and starts to bring on the fun. Good luck man!

[Callan S.]

Yeah, sorry, kind of drifted. To me a questionare like this is like making a roll to hit, or a skill check - it's just a component of the game that will be played. And I've seen plenty of skill checks rolls in games which are not connected to the game, except by GM fiat. To use Vulpinoids analogy, that's like an artist who would say his discussion with the art critics does effect his art, but in the end it's whether he feels like it or not. It'd be a false claim to say it 'does' effect the art, in such a case. So I drifted out to how the questionare connects with the bigger picture of the game - but I should have been able to describe that as another option in how you look at it. Thanks for reading.

[David Chapman]

--Dindever

Thanks, you've given me a lot more to consider. I've come across some of those issues with past groups, but hadn't considered all of them.

Callan - thanks buddy.